Louisiana Tech University’s men’s basketball team is set to conclude its road trip with a game against Florida International University (FIU) on Saturday at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami. The matchup is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the LA Tech Sports Network.
The Bulldogs, currently holding a 14-10 record overall and 7-6 in Conference USA play, are tied for fourth place in the league standings. Their most recent victory came in a double-overtime contest against Missouri State, ending with a score of 79-78. In that game, AJ Bates made a crucial floater with less than one second remaining in regulation to force overtime.
Defensively, Louisiana Tech limited Missouri State to 34.7 percent shooting from the field—the Bears’ second lowest percentage this season—and recorded nine steals along with a season-high 12 blocks, tying for third most in a single game in program history. The Bulldogs average 4.7 blocks per game, ranking them 32nd nationally.
On the boards, LA Tech collected 42 rebounds against Missouri State. This marked their twelfth game of the season with at least 40 rebounds and their fourth such performance in the last five games, during which they have averaged 41 rebounds per contest and over 13 offensive rebounds per game.
Avery Thomas II led the Bulldogs with a season-high 19 points while playing a career-best 48 minutes—the most by any Louisiana Tech player since February 2004. He also hit four three-pointers and secured nine rebounds, placing him third among CUSA players in league games with an average of 7.9 rebounds.
Kaden Cooper added his fifth double-double of the year, posting 17 points and a team-high 13 rebounds against Missouri State. Since returning to action two games ago, he has averaged over 16 points and more than 15 rebounds per outing.
AJ Bates contributed six assists versus Missouri State—his fifteenth game this season with at least five assists—and currently ranks among the nation’s top forty players in both total assists (137) and assists per game (5.5). With just eighteen more assists needed to reach two hundred for his career, Bates would become only the twenty-fifth Bulldog to achieve this milestone. He also leads Conference USA this season in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.61.
Scooter Williams extended his streak of double-digit scoring games to six after adding fifteen points off the bench against Missouri State; he has averaged nearly eighteen points per game during this stretch.
FIU enters Saturday’s contest at eleventh place in Conference USA with an overall record of 11-13 and a conference mark of 4-9 following its narrow home loss to Delaware earlier this week. The Panthers are recognized for their fast-paced style of play that emphasizes offense; they average nearly eighty-two points per game—having surpassed eighty points thirteen times this season—and rank third among conference teams during league play at almost seventy-seven points per contest.
The Panthers’ defense averages close to ten steals per game (tenth nationally), helping generate nearly fifteen fastbreak points each outing.
Corey Stephenson leads FIU offensively as he averages almost eighteen points per game—third best among all CUSA players—and had posted double-digit scoring performances across twenty-two consecutive games before being held to seven by Delaware.
Historically, Louisiana Tech holds a fifteen-to-eight advantage over FIU in head-to-head matchups dating back to their time as Sun Belt Conference rivals from 1998 through 2001 before both joined Conference USA in 2013. Since then, Louisiana Tech has won twelve out of seventeen meetings between these programs—including nine wins out of their last ten encounters and six straight victories over FIU.
Fans interested in supporting Louisiana Tech Athletics can contribute through several initiatives including LTAC, Aillet Society, T-Club, Young Alumni program or CHAMP fund—a revenue-sharing program designed for direct support through NIL and marketing opportunities for student-athletes via BuildTheLegacy.com.
For updates on Bulldog Basketball throughout the season, fans can follow @LATechHoops on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram (@LATechHoops), or Facebook (LATechMBB).
